I recently completed another read through of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. It’s the second novel in the Hunger Games trilogy. I was a bit saddened as I read through the novel because I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the people who live in the capitol in the story and Americans.
If you haven’t read the story, the people in the capitol are portrayed in somewhat of a less than favorable light. The capitol is full of people who live in luxury. Who indulge in strange fashions. Who drink a substance that will make them puke so that they can eat more and more and more. Who are dependent on good entertainment no matter what the cost to others. They are totally self absorbed.
Yet at times in the story I felt pity for the capitol people. They were just so pathetic. So ignorant. Many truly didn’t every think about how their actions and their luxury affected others in their world. They were truly bewildered that things could possible be any different.
I am so sad to have to compare Americans with these people. I know there is poverty here. Not everyone lives a life of luxury. America has good people too. People who care and help others. But for the most part, I feel that we are just like the capitol. We worry about such frivolous things. Our high gas prices and our spotty cell phone coverage. We indulge in weird fashions. And the worst…I think there are some Americans who honestly believe that we should rightfully rule the world.
But the saddest comparison…the people in the capitol had the capacity to help the starving people…the starving and dieing children in the districts. They had the resources the help. But they didn’t. They sat back and let it happen. Watched it happen. Even somehow convinced themselves that it was ok and “just the way things were.”
America is no different. We have so many resources. Yet we sit back and let children die of starvation. (Did you know it’s happening right now in West Africa?) We instead worry about our own self-absorbed selves. We worry about our own horrible politics and budgets. We worry about keeping “immigrants” out and worry about what constitutes a marriage. We worry about things that may seem important, but do not really matter in comparison.
America is like “the capitol.” It is not a proud comparison.